On the Wings of a Lover
by NecroHolic
Summary: Fleur is a skilled Hunter; however, when she comes to Cross in the wake of the deaths of Kaname and Zero, she contends with the new pureblood, Milano. And why is the Night Class VP always in pain and his friend always tired? TakumaOC, SenriOC. CharDeath.
1. Prologue: Disenchanted

Necro: Well, once again, I'm doing things without Holic, but this time, she did contribute. Most of it is mine, but for once, she has something to put out.

Kana: *glare* I can't believe you're gonna be doing this...

Necro: Relax, you get to show up here, along with Zero.

Zero: Before you two get to arguing, why does that up there say M?

Necro: It's rated M for Murder.

Kana: And Many Later Sex Scenes.

Zero: *sweatdrops* NecroHolic does not own Vampire Knight, only Fleur (Necro) and Milano (Holic).

* * *

><p>Prologue: Disenchanted (My Chemical Romance, <em>The Black Parade<em>)

Fleur trembled in fear as stood in front of the closed stone passageway, tears falling from her beautiful violet eyes, one pale hand clutching her black raincoat shut over the collar of her knee-length bubblegum-pink dress. She knew Lance had told her to run, to seek refuge in the forest, and to trust no one unless they gave her reason to first, but she didn't want to abandon her brother, not when he had been told to get out of here by their parents. Her pink heeled sandals clicking as she took a step towards the door, she screamed when the stone thumped loudly and the smell of Lance's blood seeped through the hidden hinges of the covering, the frightened girl running from the mansion as fast as her legs could carry her, her copper-red-streaked onyx hair flying out behind her. Today was Fleur Drake's twelfth birthday, and she was now the sole heir to the Drake fortune.

* * *

><p>Toga Yagari sighed as he shot the latest Level E to cross his path, already regretting his decision to stub out his cigarette a few blocks ago, even if it was to prevent him from smoking it past the filter and possibly to his own lips (he'd done it before). It was strange so many vampires were in a supposedly safe city protected by not one but <em>two<em> full-grown dragons, a red and a black, and their two children, but judging by the screams of "kill the serpents", perhaps it was to be expected. Dragons were an iffy part of the vampire class system, usually regarded with equal measures of fear, respect, and disgust; apparently the fear and disgust had been enough to prompt a snap among the vampire community towards their draconic neighbors, hoping to take down the ancient beasts and their young through sheer numbers and killing off the survivors later. Sickening.

The cry of a small child pulled him from his thoughts, and he turned to see a Level E pinning a young girl to the wall and tugging on her now-dirty pink dress (or at least, he thought it was pink). Without hesitation, Toga shot the vampire in the heart, diving forward through the dust to catch the girl before she hit the pavement and gently set her on her feet. "You should be more careful," he pronounced. "Next time I may not be around to save you."

She looked up at him as haughtily as she could manage in her condition and the current situation, uncertain if she could trust him or not. "I thought I would be able to keep him under control, but if we're going to discuss what one should do, I feel obligated to point out that you should stop smoking, those cancer sticks will be the death of you one day."

He frowned at her, eyes narrowing. "You have quite a spark to you, Miss Drake," he said, picking up enough indicators to feel comfortable identifying her with the prominent dragon family here, "but you don't quite have the fire to back up your sharp tongue."

"I am only twelve by the count of my kind, vampire hunter, so it is understandable for me to be without such means."

He looked her over for a moment, critically observing the long red-streaked black hair and willowy set to her figure, thought it was the defiance in her posture and spark in her lavender eyes that made his decision for him. "Come on," he said, turning to walk away.

She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Someone's got to look after you and teach you how to get yourself out of trouble. I like you well enough, so why not take you on as my apprentice and save myself some damn paperwork?"

* * *

><p>Kaname blinked in surprise when he saw all his friends staring at him with a strange light in their eyes in the otherwise-deserted sitting area. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.<p>

"Not quite," Hanabusa said, fidgeting nervously.

"You know we're more loyal to you than our families, Kaname-sama," Akatsuki stated bluntly.

"We already consider you our coven leader," Ruka added.

"And each other as covenmates," Senri continued.

"So we were thinking," Rima murmured in an undertone, blushing lightly.

"Why not make it official?" Takuma finished, flashing the pureblood a winning smile.

Kaname quirked a single eyebrow at them (The single eyebrow cock—just about the single most bad-ass thing honor student Kaname Kuran will ever be able to accomplish; I wonder if he practices in front of a mirror?). "Did you all rehearse this for an April Fool's Day joke in September?" As they all shook their heads, he suddenly realized they were serious. "The binding process is quite unpleasant," he warned them.

"We all made our decisions long ago, Kaname-sama," Akatsuki pointed out.

"Each one of us weighed out the chances on our own," Ruka clarified.

"And we all decided," Senri began.

"Throwing our lot in with you was better than standing alone," Rima finished.

"You won't let us down without a fight, Kaname-sama," Hanabusa pronounced.

"Which is why we all made our choices the way we did," Takuma declared, his chin high and eyes determined, the others following his lead.

"Very well then," Kaname sighed, shaking his head. "Looks like I can't change your minds after all."

* * *

><p>Over the course of the past year, Fleur had matured beautifully into both a hunter and a "woman". She could effortlessly hide herself in a crowd while attracting attention from their targets at the same time, not to mention she could cook things far more edible than the shit Toga could and still took pleasure in using knives, a handgun, or even her own claws to kill vampires. She may have been less driven than Zero was, but she was made of stronger stuff that he was, and Toga had never been more proud of her (not that he would ever admit it).<p>

With all this in his mind, when Fleur's piercing scream yanked him from his slumber, he was quick to run over to the other's hotel bed and turn on the bedside lamp. At the introduction of light, she yelped, hiding her eyes behind her hands but not before he'd seen the change in her pupils. Toga knew enough about dragons by this point through his browsing of hunter documents about the subject when she wasn't looking to know that she was going through the equivalent of puberty for dragons and was in agony right now. Searching his memory, he recalled that most dragons would present physical signs of their affection during this time to calm the sensations; figuring it was worth a try, he pulled off the silver hunter's medallion from around his neck and draped it around hers. To his surprise, she calmed down instantly, though when she spoke, her tone broached no arguments. "Toga Yagari," she panted, her hair hanging down over her eyes, "what the hell were you thinking when you bound yourself to your younger female dragon student?"

* * *

><p>"Onii-san?" Milano Kuran called, letting herself into Kaname's study.<p>

"Milano!" Kaname greeted his illegitimate sister, smiling. "My, my! Your hair sure is getting long!"

"Kaname!" She giggled, stepping up to the ebony desk, aside her brother, "I"m nearly fifteen, you don't have to treat me like a baby!"

"I know," the pureblood sighed, placing a familial hand atop Milano's plum-colored head. "I just worry that you're under too much pressure, not being able to tell anyone you're a Kuran…" he lingered off.

"But I'm not really a Kuran!" Milano protested, "At least, not by birth. I'm just here in case something were to happen to you." Kaname sighed and turned his back, suppressing his emotions towards his sister, who was always at the ready in case of some kind of major disaster. "Kaname?" Milano asked, turning to stand next to him again. She then proceeded to slip her hand in his, causing much confusion to the pureblood when he was suddenly no longer in control of his body. "I'll be sure to take care of Cross Academy when you're gone."

"What?" he asked, trying to wrench away, "No! You won't take the Academy! You won't kill me!"

Milano froze their hands together, thwarting any plans of escape from Kaname. "Oh, but I will! I've been waiting for this moment for 10 years, to finally claim the last piece of fortune the Kuran family desperately clutches to!"

"Milano please!" Kaname cried, looking into his sister's all-white, un-pupated eyes, grabbing his golden dagger from the desk and holding it an arm's length away, the tip pointing directly at his chest.

"The Kuran's time has come! You, finally, are the last of your forsaken bloodline!"

"Damn you, Mil-" Kaname choked out before plunging the dagger deeply into his chest, making the most serene blood-spurt Milano had ever seen. The last Kuran then fell to the thick carpet, repeatedly stabbing his torso until Milano could no longer enter his mind, confirmed of his death. Looking down, the girl realized her dress was soaked in her brother's lifeblood, completely covering her once-white, modestly calf-length dress. She quickly melted the ice binding her to the corpse, left Kaname's eyes open, and turned the doorknob to get out of the study when a forceful knock hit the door.

"Kuran? Yuki wants to make sure you're okay, she heard something coming from the study… Kuran?" The door opened, and a boy with lavender eyes took a tentative step inside, holding out his anti-vampire gun. Milano, knowing she would only have one shot at this, rolled out from underneath the desk where she hid and lunged towards the boy, frantically trying to make physical contact.

"Shh…" she tried to calm him when her hands cupped his face, proactively freezing their flesh together. Milano proceeded to degrade his mind, causing a slight struggle at first, but then reduced his will to nothing, killing him. She left Kaname for the surviving members of his coven to find, hurriedly stashed the other body in the forest outside of the Academy, retreated back to the Kuran manor, and waited to be informed of her dear brother's suicide.

* * *

><p>"Takuma? Why is it that you always like making me go outside to sleep?" Senri grumbled, his eyes closed as he attempted to hide his face from the sunlight by burying himself deeper in his friend's lap.<p>

Takuma pouted. "Aw, come on Senri! Don't tell me you don't like the wind on your face or the warmth on your skin!" he cried, gently running his fingers through brunette locks encouragingly. It had been a long time since they had done this sort of thing, but he actually found it soothing to have a warm body close to him when nearly everyone he had let into his heart had hurt him.

"The sun is in my eyes, I can't get away from the brightness, your tree shades worth shit, and the wind blows fucking leaves in my hair. Excuse me for deciding that I'm more of an inside person… and that you need to seriously brush up on how to be a vampire because you are breaking just about every rule for them right about now." And yet, with all the comfort and contentment radiating from their keystone, Kaname, Senri couldn't really find it in him to protest all too much. _I bet his niece Milano is visiting him right now… or maybe his mate, Zero, _he thought lazily, not bothering to investigate the source through the slender bond they all shared._ I never would have pegged Kaname-sama to be someone who dotes so firmly upon his soulmate or his family, but considering how close he is to Yuki and how kindly he acts towards her, I guess it's to be expected._

The alarm that shot through the bond startled both vampires, causing Takuma's head to turn back towards the Moon Dorm and Senri to sit bolt upright. A ways beside them, up in the trees, Ruka and Akatsuki jumped down from the branches, Hanabusa following moments later and helping down a tense Rima. "You guys feel that?" Takuma said.

They all nodded. "How could we not?" Akatsuki asked.

"Kaname-sama's in trouble!" Hanabusa yelled, running off, Rima only a step behind him, while it took Ruka and Akatsuki a moment to process the thought and Senri and Takuma a little longer to actually stand up.

Akatsuki and Ruka were at the edge of the clearing, Takuma and Senri still in the center, and Rima and Hanabusa long gone when it happened. Pain rushed through their heads, going through every inch of their bodies. They all fell to their knees, gripping their heads in agony at the ocean of pain distracting them from everything they knew. At first that was all it simply was, pain, but then something else laced into it, a subtle turning of directions until none of the vampires were quite aware of what was reality and what wasn't anymore. Nothing made sense, but then, for an instant, ice-blue eyes met clear green ones and held. "Takuma," Senri panted exhaustedly, "help me push this back."

_Of course_, Takuma thought belatedly, _Senri has some pureblood in him_. He reached out, interlocking their fingers, and whispered, "On three, we surge outwards." The younger vampire nodded, tightening his grip in preparation. "One, two, THREE!"

The two let out a fierce surge of energy, Senri pushing it out and Takuma controlling it as best he could. He swept into Akatsuki and Ruka, soothing their confused minds, then into Hanabusa's, a dark place filled with shadows, and finally Rima's, which was stretched as thin as a rubber band. The two were shaking when they came back to themselves, clinging to each other as though they were the sole survivors in a storm, and Ruka and Akatsuki across the meadow weren't in much better shape.

Seeing that Senri was in no position to do anything, Takuma firmed his jaw and tentatively made his way into the woods, using the trees for support until he found a wilting Hanabusa pinning a muttering Rima to the ground. "What happened?" he asked tiredly.

"The strain of losing Kaname-sama was taking it out of me, but when she tried to shield me from some of the pain, her mind snapped like a broken twig," he muttered forlornly, his head bowed. His next words surprised the older blond more than anything else had in his entire life. "What do we do now, coven leader?"

* * *

><p>Necro: Well, I won't be uploading this next chapter, so 'til I see you again... DON'T DO ANYTHING YOU WOULDN'T WANT TO EXPLAIN TO THE COPS, THE PARAMEDICS, OR A SIGNIFICANT OTHER!<p>

Zero: I likely will show up again, but we all know I'll be disobeying that second thing.

Kana: I definately won't show up outside of Necro's stuff, and since I'm a perfect honor student, I don't need to worry about the recommendation.

Necro: Don't worry, you can be my little helper, Kaname!

Kana: ... *is mildly creeped out* Please review, as it will help these two nutjobs update faster.

Zero: If you review, Necro will give you a paragraph from her contribution of the next chapter!

Necro: I'll also show you a sweet dream next night...


	2. One: 21st Century Breakdown

Holic: I wrote something! I'm so proud of myself!

Necro: Yeah, but I had to bribe you with a Shiki-mance...

Holic: It's my motivation, there's nothing wrong with that.

Necro: Yeah, but Shiki lost the race...

Holic: Whatever! (We don't own anything)

* * *

><p>Chapter One: 21st Century Breakdown (Green Day, <em>21st Century Breakdown<em>)

Fleur gasped when her back connected with the brick wall of the mall parking lot, her legs instinctively wrapping around the waist of the enthusiastic brunette boy placing reverent kisses on her neck. As it became increasingly obvious he wasn't the least bit focused on her actions, she smirked, the irises of her violet eyes glowing slightly while the pupils contracted. Extracting the hand she'd tangled in his hair from the strands to as to avoid suspicion, she used the shadowy nature of her surroundings to hide the change until it was too late and a single skillful claw had punctured through his skull and a good ways into his brain, twisting around to adeptly sever the spinal cord. As the vampire turned to dust around her, she snatched up some of the remains in a scaly paw before she hit the ground heavily. Having poured the dust into a vial and reverted back to her human appearance, she stored the vial in the cleavage of her midnight-blue corselet, smoothed down her black pleated miniskirt, and unhurriedly started back towards the mall, ignoring the clack of her black leather stiletto boots on the asphalt.

* * *

><p>Toga Yagari didn't look up from his pseudo-Japanese cuisine when the platinum blond with the sluttish gothic clothing sat down across from him, merely sliding over the chicken salad and a fork. Grimacing at the poor state of the vegetation in the plastic bowl, she carefully stole some of his vegetables and added them to her own plate before taking a ginger sip of his water bottle as thought expecting it to be poisoned. "Did you get the target?"<p>

She shrugged, intent on her separation of the various aspects of her lunch. "No, though I did find seven alternates."

"Fleur," he sighed, "do you ever get bored of straight-up hunting?"

She blinked, looking up at him. "I'm not so fond of the constant moving around and adopting disguises in order to hunt our bounty, but I'm a hunter, so it can't be helped."

"Technically, you've been on the graduation assignment seven times before. You'd pass it too if it weren't for your own stubbornness."

"As long as I remain on the cusp, no one'll know what we've done. It's not like we have any other choice, right?"

"Actually, the Association's going to pass you. Today was a surprise test since they seemed to realize you're deliberately failing, and you passed with the flying colors I knew you would."

"Teacher!" she gasped, eyes wide. "How could you?"

"You need to learn to cope without me, and I have the perfect solution. The only problems were that you couldn't leave the US 'til you graduated and that you're not gonna like it."

"What is it?" He told her, and judging by the way his water bottle was bulging as her glare super-heated the water inside, she didn't like it.

* * *

><p>Takuma groaned at the lancing pain in his head, putting his forehead to the cool desk in his room. A moment later, Senri handed him a glass of his blood, lapping at the wound he'd bitten on his wrist until it healed over. "I swear," he panted, "when I die, serious words will be had with Kaname-sama over his suicide."<p>

Ice-blue eyes regarded him sympathetically. "You bear so much of the burden, Takuma. None of us would blame you if you let us share your pain for a while."

The blond vampire shook his head, already regaining some color with the sip of blood he'd taken. "When I share the pain, it increases until we're both in agony. I'd rather taken the brunt of this accursed bond than let us all suffer."

"At least we can be thankful Rido Kuran was enough of an asshole to father me, otherwise we likely would have gone insane with Kaname-sama's loss like Rima did."

"True," Takuma chuckled, returning to the endless paperwork he'd had to deal with since Kaname's death.

"Headmaster Cross is apparently getting a new Disciplinary Committee girl tomorrow to take Zero's place," the brunette said after a moment. "I stole a peek at her file and it was certainly interesting. Her name is Fleur Drake, exact age unknown, and she not only flat-out refused to attend classes, she also comes with exemplary hunter's records despite having to take the graduation exam eight times before she passed."

Takuma frowned, putting down his pen thoughtfully. "Her name sounds familiar."

"Fleur Drake? Drake _is_ a fairly common name, and Fleur quite the memorable one."

He shook his head. "That's not it. I _know_ I've heard it before at some point and that it was important."

* * *

><p>"Toga," Fleur asked warily, the silver hunter's medallion hanging openly on her breast now that they were back in their hotel room, "what is that?"<p>

He smiled gently, pouring the contents of the black crystal decanter into two wine glasses. "Vodka," he replied, critically eying the clear liquid before deeming it acceptable and putting one in her hand.

"I'm not old enough to drink," she pointed out, though her fingers curled around the glass.

"You just graduated from being my apprentice. I'm willing to put aside your relative age to let you properly celebrate," he replied, tipping back his own glass.

"Dragons don't handle liquor well. I'd rather not piss you off by being pissed off about you dragging me to the airport while I have a wicked hangover," she warned him.

He shrugged. "Then we'll _both_ have wicked hangovers."

She chuckled, waving him away. "No thank you, I've had more than enough experience with a hungover vampire hunter to last a lifetime. In fact," she said, her tone teasing, "didn't the bond also get _me_ drunk when _you_ were hunting at that bar last year?"

"Suit yourself," he muttered, getting up from her bed and walking over to his own. "Good night, Fleur."

"Good night yourself," she replied, settling in to watch a muted version of _Pan's Labyrinth_. The next morning, he was unsurprised to see an empty wine glass sitting beside her on the bedside table when he went to wake her up to catch their flight.

* * *

><p>"They're all very anxious to hear you speak, Kuran-sama," the headmaster of Cross Academy, dressed all in black, told Milano.<p>

"As they should be," Milano stated pointedly, her voice frosty with emotions the man couldn't quite read, though he assumed it to be grief over Kaname's tragic suicide. "There are no other pureblood Kuran's left, other than myself, of course." Stepping out on the balcony inside the Moon Dorm, she looked out on the congregated vampires, their black garments clashing against their pasty skin. "I appreciate you all coming, she began, disregarding the strange looks at her lavish, bright orange gown that covered her completely; her arms, legs, and neck were all blanketed in tangerine frill. She took a step forward, her soft magenta curls springing, then said, "As you know, my dear brother ended his life not two weeks ago. Now I, the sole successor, have arrived to claim what is mine." At her unwavering, businesslike tone of voice, many vampires glanced at each other, not trusting the new head of the Kuran family.

"Why should we trust you? Isn't there another family who can step in and take over until this matter is settled?" One rebellious aristocrat yelled.

"Yes!" Another chimed in, "A mere child is to take on the Kuran lineage? This is a travesty-"

"That is enough," Milano interrupted calmly, frosting the vampires with ice. "Do any of you know your place? I am superior to you all! You act as if you have a say in this matter, trying to take my inheritance!" She laughed hysterically, loosing control of her facade. "Kaname Kuran and myself were bound to one another!" She suddenly yelled, her black-painted lips curling into an insane grimace, her ivory eyes dancing around the room wildly. "I am Milano Kuran! You will bow down to-" Overwhelmed with the sudden exertion, Milano fainted, the action causing the ice around frozen vampires to thaw. Senri staggered foreword from the rest of the few remanding Night Class behind the balcony to catch her limp body as Takuma began to calm the vampires below.

"My fellow vampires! Rest assured that Milano Kuran is fit to take over as head of the Kuran family, for Kaname-sama had not chosen her as his heir without good reason…" Takuma began as Senri hauled Milano's too-light body to Kaname's old master bedroom.

* * *

><p>Milano woke up several days later, violently coughing up blood, making the black sheets that shrouded her body soaked in the sticky fluid. She softly whimpered as her vision clouded out and her body toppled over the edge of the bed, alerting Shiki who was standing outside the door.<p>

"Milano!" Shiki barged inside, crouching down beside the bed where Milano lay in a heap, covered in blood. "Here, take some." Shiki held out his bleeding wrist towards Milano, wrapping his free arm around her waist and pulling her body on his lap. For some reason, she refused to take his blood, angling her head away from him, but Shiki persistently pressed his wrist to her tight lips until Milano lashed away and backslapped him so hard he fell on his back.

'How dare- No, I'll deal with you properly!" a very angry Milano screamed at Shiki. "My office. Twenty minutes," she commanded more calmly, standing up and heading towards her dressing room.

* * *

><p>When Shiki arrived at Kaname's old office, he was surprised at how choked the voice that told him to come in sounded. He was even more surprised when she saw the pile of tear-soaked tissues piled on the corner of the ebony desk. "Please, take a seat, Shiki." Milano interrupted his thoughts. As Shiki neared the uncomfortable-looking wooden chair, he took notice of Milano's appearance; she wore a long earthy-green dress with a hoop skirt and a corset underneath, making her usually rail-like figure more womanly. Again, her neck and arms were covered, lips painted black, and hair done up in soft curls.<p>

"Milano?" Shiki asked as he slowly lowered himself into the seat across from her desk.

"That is exactly why you're here!" she creid, throwing her delicate hands over her equally delicate face. "Milano! You call me Milano when I am your superior! That behavior can _not_ be tolerated." Her personally made a complete 180, her tone low and menacing.

"I just wanted to help you!" Shiki exclaimed, rising from his seat. "What have I done to hurt you?" Instead of giving a reply, Milano just sighed and put her hands over her face again. Shiki started towards the door, figuring the conversation had come to an end, only to be scolded the moment his hand touched the doorknob.

'You disrespectful whelp!" Milano yelled, going from sad to pissed off once more. "I will not have _my coven_ disrespect me! Meet me in the foyer in ten minutes. You are dismissed." She pushed past him and headed out the door, slamming it obnoxiously behind her.

Shiki paused in the doorway. "You are many things, Milano-sama," he murmured softly, "but coven leader is not one of them." The tinkling sound of breaking glass could be heard throughout the Moon Dorm.

* * *

><p>Zero: It sucks being dead...<p>

Holic: Zero! My love!

Zero: ...

Holic: *jumps on Zero and tries ripping off his clothes*

Zero: Ahh! Rape!

Kaname: It's not rape if you want it! (I actually showed up even though Holic hates my guts... wow...)

Necro: And besides, Zero-chan, if you're getting raped, you don't yell 'rape'. No one comes for 'rape'. That's why if you're getting raped, you call 'fire'. Or use a rape whistle...

Holic: Please review! *drags Zero into a dark alley*


	3. Two: Welcome to the Family

Holic: Yay! Another chapter! Good thing Necro has me on a short leash with Shiki-rape threats...

Shiki: What are you talking about? Thats a horrible thing!

Holic: ...

Milano: There, there, Shiki.

Holic: *sighs* We don't own Vampire Knight.

* * *

><p>Chapter Two: Welcome to the Family (Sevenfold Avenged, <em>Nightmare<em>)

"Kuran-sama" Shiki acknowledged as he neared the front doors where Milano stood, now wearing cream-colored gloves, a hat, and parasol.

"Thank you for coming, Shiki-kun," she said warmly, a beautiful light of happiness in her eyes. "I would like for you to escort me on a walk today."

"Of course…" he replied, slightly confused at why a pureblood vampire would want to take a walk in broad daylight, though her sweet expression kept him from prying. He opened one of the large doors, allowing Milano to walk out first, her parasol shielding her paper-white skin. After taking a few steps out of the front gates, Milano slipped her bony arm around Shiki's, giving the sign that he should raise his horizontally in a gentlemanly manner.

When the sun had reach its highest point, Milano directed Shiki towards the forest and proceeded to sit underneath a large oak's shade, pulling out a fan and cooling her heavily powdered face. "Sit!" she giggled, looking up at Shiki. He sat, comfortably leaning against the tree's sturdy trunk.

"You're confusing me Mil - Kuran-sama," he confessed, not bothering to hide the exasperation in his voice. She turned her head, ashamed, blushing. "Kuran-sa-"

"Please!" she blurted, "Please… call me Milano." Shiki sighed, trying not to become angry with the girl.

"Okay," Shiki leaned foreword, his voice changing, and took her chin in between his thumb and painter finger, "Milano-chan." Milano blushed even more deeply and opened her mouth gingerly as if to say something. Shiki shifted his thumb up an inch, to her lip, and softly stroked the adjacent flesh.

Using all of her might, Milano pulled away, falling backwards but not dislodging Shiki, and just as her body was about to collide with the ground, he moved one hand behind her waist and another behind her head, taking the force of the fall, which was to say not much, though he knew Milano would have pitched a fit if he had not caught her.

In a blinding flash of white, Milano dug her fan into Shiki's eye, clear, tear-like fluids washing over her face underneath him. She then twisted her ankle into his, expertly rolling and switching their positions atop each other, followed by unopposed strangulation, Milano's hands squeezing Shiki's limp neck. "Milano…-chan" he rasped, his face as purple as her hair. White, this flash brighter and more intense than the last. "Milano-chan!" Her vision faded back, her breath coming in shallow hitches. "Milano-chan!"

"Shiki…?" she breathed, catching a glimpse of his concerned face before her mind shut itself off.

* * *

><p>Fleur stood in the greenhouse, carefully supervising the rebirth of what had once been Zero Kiryu's herb garden and the growth of some particular additions of her own, when Toga Yagari startled her from her thoughts. "Why weren't you helping Yuki Cross patrol last night?"<p>

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Toga?" she asked in reply, caressing the slightly wilting rosemary with a practiced touch. Sensing his glare on her back, she relented slightly. "I smelt blood, okay?"

"There are vampires on Cross Academy campus, Fleur. They're _supposed_ to smell of blood."

"Not of blood reeking of magic and madness thought. Even worse, there is a very strong aura of death around the Moon Dorm, are you certain Kaname Kuran's death was a suicide and that Zero Kiryu is not deceased as well?"

"The pureblood died by his own hand, that much is certain. As for Zero, if he were dead, I would know it. He is still alive."

She harrumphed. "Then the Night Class kill on a regular basis. The reek of decay is too strong around them to prove otherwise."

"…Fleur-"

"I refuse to protect another nest of killers, Toga!"

Gritting his teeth, the vampire hunter opened the door and pulled in a blond boy by the collar of his dark gray cashmere sweater. "Does he smell like a killer to you, Fleur?"

She walked over to the pair, pulling her onyx hair (the platinum blond coloring had been a wash-out dye) back behind her ear as she did so and revealing a red streak. "No," she murmured after a long moment. "You have taken lives before, but never maliciously." She cocked her head curiously. "Who are you, vampire by blood but human by choice?"

Before the blond could reply, he was pushed back out the door by an exasperated Toga. "You see, Fleur, not all vampires are bad."

"Give him another decade or two," she remarked coldly. "By then, his hands will be just as tainted as any Level E we've hunted." He threw up his hands in defeat, striding towards the door again. "However," she continued, "I shall begin my duties tonight."

* * *

><p>"Takuma-sama, are you okay?"<p>

He looked to the side to see a girl with dark gray hair standing where she could take advantage of the shade provided by the little brick garden shed beside the greenhouse. "Seiren! I didn't know you had stayed at Cross Academy!"

"Even in death, Kaname-sama has left me to protect what he holds—held—dear. He told me that if anything should happen to him, I was—am—to take care of Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu. I have not quite managed to locate Zero Kiryu, but I have been keeping a close eye on Yuki Cross."

"Be careful, Seiren. I think I just encountered the new Guardian, and if I'm correct, then she may take issue to Kaname-sama's dying wish, however well-meaning it may be."

She nodded. "I will, Takuma-sama." As he turned to walk away, she said, "Oh, and one more thing. This isn't verbatim what I was told, but Kaname-sama said something about not trusting Milano-sama." His eyes widened in the momentary pause, but she added, "around Yuki Cross, I mean."

He bobbed his head, thinking about it. "Considering that he kept her a secret for so long, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised about that." She dipped her head in acknowledgement, disappearing. _In all the years that I've known her_, he mused as he strode back to the dorms, _Seiren has never been one to mis-speak her words. What is it that you're trying to tell me, Seiren… Kaname?_

* * *

><p>"Listen, you really need to get laid."<p>

_What the fuck?_ Milano thought, waking up from an uncomfortable rest, hearing a dirty conversation going on in the dorm underneath her.

"Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, and the rant that goes with it."

_Shiki?_ Milano was seriously confused now, last she thought she had killed Shiki... Wait, what? Then why had she seen his face before passing out? Planning to receive the answers to all of her questions, Milano pulled the unfamiliar sheets back, noticing she wore a boy's shirt and boxers. Okay, this was getting to be too much. As she went out into the hallway, she realized she had no idea where she was inside of the dorm.

"Yeah, so you have to make her think that you're screwing guys behind her back."

"Wouldn't that just make her think that I'm gay?"

"No! Girls are totally into bisexual guys."

"Well, if you're sure about that-"

"Shiki?" Milano asked, arriving in a living room-type place, following the voices.

"Milano-chan!" he greeted, awkwardly rising from the sofa.

"We were just talking about you!" Takuma inappropriately called in her direction.

"Excuse me?" Milano asked, her tone rising. "Do you-" she cut herself off, inhaling deeply, her face scrunching in disgust and... pain? "Takuma! My office. One hour!" She stomped off in the opposite direction, her face flushing.

"Hahaha!" The blond laughed, "Did you see what she was wearing?"

"Yeah..." Shiki said, dazed at seeing so much of Milano's skin. "Listen, Tama." He shook himself out of the trace. "Be careful around Milano, she's really unstable."

"Whatever you say, Senri..."

* * *

><p><em>Wow<em>, Fleur thought when she finally glanced outside, _when did it get dark out?_ Not paying attention to the way her hand brushed her specimens, she suddenly found herself covered in the spores of a highly-potent ancestor of the belladonna mushroom that easily had enough toxins in a single cap to kill an army of 300 humans. "Shit," she cursed, backing up into another table and unintentionally covering herself in foxglove pollen and the juice from some squished yew berries. "Oh, fuck my life." She padded back to her quarters, knowing she'd have to take a shower to get all the poison off her, not for her own sake but for that of the humans she interacted with. She unlaced the black corselet as she walked, pushing it from her torso and swinging it into the hamper as she passed by, and stepped out of her jeans and underwear so that they could follow. Before she stepped into the shower, she breathed a short yet fierce burst of fire over the water heater, then set about making certain she got rid of all the reproductive material and poisonous substances from her skin through vigorous scrubbing, the warm water soothing her enough to let her wings, tail, spines, and horns slip out as her ears, already pointed, to slide up her and change shape. It felt nice to let so much of her true nature out, even Toga hadn't seen more of her than her claws and an occasional glance at her wings and tail.

When she got out, toweling off, she froze as a snakingly elegant script appeared in the fog on the glass. _Everyone has secrets here, dragon. Will you be the one to bring them to light?_ She frowned, gasping at the strong aura of power that permeated the room, one she was certain she'd felt before despite its extreme distinctiveness. Without warning, the mysterious presence added _Knock knock_ only a matter of moments before an actual knock sounded on her main door. "Just a minute, Sensei!" she called, glancing back to the mirror only to find it wiped clean as if by a careless hand. She pulled on her own personal Cross Academy uniform, a navy blue thing with bright blue lines, and opened the door to see the boy from earlier. "You aren't Sensei," she stated blankly.

"No," he replied softly, his features twisting in a pain-filled grimace, "but Yagari-sensei _did_ send me here to be treated for a possible poisoning."

"Poisoning?" she yelped, but he didn't reply, instead passing out in a manner that left her diving to catch him. _He looks so pale and exhausted_, she thought. _I know he's Night Class, but even _I_ may not be able to save him without knowing the source and type of poison._ She stumbled heavily when her boot slipped on a small black plastic object, and she blinked, bending down to pick up the offending object after she had placed the boy on her bed. _Blood tablets?_ she wondered, figuring they must have fallen from his pocket at some point as she slid the case open and stiffened at the smell. _No, blood tablets spiked with _vervain. She darted around her quarters, mixing herbs and crystals in a wooden bowl as she impatiently waited for Toga to pick up his phone. The instant he did, she yelled, "Don't let them eat the tablets; they're poisoned!" Chucking her cell at the counter of her kitchenette, she pressed the bowl containing the potion she'd concocted against his lips. Cursing when he didn't swallow, she bit her own wrist, sucked up some of the leaking crimson, and imparted the dragon blood into his prone body with a soft kiss. It'd do him better than her antidote would in any case.

* * *

><p>Takuma, entering Milano's office at the specified time, sat in the chair across her desk, looking at the back of a fancy leather spinning chair. "Takuma..." Milano said, turning her chair around, tears running out of her blank eyes. "Is this the kind of coven I have to love? One that turns it's back on it's own mother, consorting with the enemy?" Her voice cracked, a pitiful expression washing over her young, delicate face.<p>

Takuma's jaw shot up in a slight measure of defiance, his instincts kicking in to defend himself and his coven. "What are you talking about? You're not part of the coven, and I have no idea what you're going on about with the whole betrayal thing." Remembering what Senri had told him about her being touchy, he added, "With all due respect, Milano-sama."

"Kuran-sama!" She corrected, her tears suddenly increasing in anger, insane sobs ripping out of her chest. "And you should know full well what you've done! I can smell her all over you!"

"Who?" Takuma asked, seriously confused.

"That stuck-up new Guardian, Fleur Yagari!"

He blushed. "That is to be expected, Mil-Kuran-sama. After all, I was poisoned with the vervain-laced tablets and she was the one who cured me. In fact, I find it quite kind of her to volunteer to scan all the blood tablets for us."

She stomped her foot. "No! You've bitten her, haven't you?"

"NO!" he yelled, his emerald eyes burning with emotion. "Fleur is a human, and a vampire hunter no less! Even if I was dying and she offered it to me, I would never drink her blood!"

"LIES!" she screamed, an insane light entering her eyes. "THERE'S NO WAY HER SCENT WOULD EMANATE SO STRONGLY FROM YOU UNLESS YOU TOOK HER BLOOD!" He recoiled, fright shining in his eyes not for himself but for the remainder of the Night Class… and for _her_. However, without warning, all of her emotions seemed to come to a screeching halt. "You are dismissed," she whispered, her mood changing once again.

Takuma, not wanting to cause any more emotional stress, complied, shutting the door softly behind him as he exited. _That was... weird..._ he thought, returning to his room for the day.

* * *

><p>Holic: AND THE PLOT THICKENS... *evil laughter*<p>

Shiki: Oh! And go read Animal by ImmortalDawn18, a friend of Necro's.

Milano: And review!


	4. Three: Alumina

Holic: Wh00t! Another chapter has been executed!

Necro: I had to re-write your make-out scene...

Holic: That's because my aptitiude is gore!

Necro: That's unhealthy...

Holic: We don't own Vampire Knight! *runs off waving a hatchet*

* * *

><p>Chapter Three: Alumina (Nightmare, <em>Death Note<em>)

"Alexi!" Fleur cried, her eyes wide. "What are you doing here?"

The male smiled, the ends of his long black overcoat parting as he bowed before her elegantly and placed a kiss on her hand. "However could I have ignored the call of my dear flower knowing that she was within my reach once more?"

"Fleur?" Toga asked from her kitchen table, leaning his chair back in an attempt to look under her arm, "who is this?"

"Sensei," she murmured softly, "this is an old friend of mine and a very prominent noble, Alexander Nikolai. Alexi, this is my teacher, the vampire hunter Toga Yagari."

Alexi flicked his long copper hair over his shoulder, not the least annoyed by the ponytail tip that refused to stay behind him. He stepped around her, offering his hand to the hunter, the silver charm bracelet on his wrist clinking softly with the movement. "Pleased to meet you, Yagari-san."

"You are a dragon, no?" the man asked, shaking the hand as his chair thumped back down onto all four legs. At the inclination of his chin, Toga's respect for the polite male who had managed to so charm Fleur, who was normally wary of everyone to the point of pushing paranoia, increased exponentially. "Then you have my utmost respect for remaining on such good terms with Fleur. Who's the lucky person bound to you?"

He chuckled. "That would have to be Fleur," he replied, his teal eyes flashing in mirth. "After all, I am her fiancée."

She snorted at the frozen expression of surprise and shock on Toga's face, secretly glad he'd already righted his seating arrangement otherwise he'd have ended up on the floor. "Relax. It was an arranged marriage since I told my parents I'd rather kill myself than reproduce with Lance. Alexi just happens to have pure enough dragon blood to make any children we had purebloods as well, despite him being a copper dragon."

Alexi pouted at that. "Aw, Fleur, has our spark really gone away so fast?" he teased, a small blue sparkle of pure energy flirting through his fingers playfully.

"Stop showing off, Alexi, it's unbecoming," she chided gently, kissing him on the cheek. "Just because you're part blue and green in addition to copper doesn't mean you're allowed to play with your powers whenever you want."

At the sight of his student pressing her lips to someone else, Toga abandoned his tea on the table and walked towards the door. "The world is ending, Fleur is actually kissing a boy," he muttered to himself, letting himself out. "My God, the world can't end yet, I haven't fucked-" The closing door effectively cut off that thought, though neither dragon was particularly concerned with the human's mutterings, drunk on each other's auras, Fleur's seductively darker than the pure one emaciating from him due to his white-magic use and her gray.

"Sorry about Sensei," she murmured softly, her breath huffing over his cheeks. "He's not quite aware that even _dragons_ do need to have sex to get energy for sex spells."

The corner of his mouth quirked up. "So you're saying you aren't as drawn to me as I am to you, my flower?" he teased gently, dipping down to press his lips to her chin and jawline.

"Exactly," she stated blankly, tilting her head back to give him access to her throat so that he could pepper it with kisses. "I haven't been honestly attracted to you ever. The only reason you are to me is because I accidentally bound you when I was younger."

"Then why haven't you annulled our betrothal yet? Or more importantly, why have you been letting me fuck you whenever I come over?"

She smiled gently, her lilac eyes flashing as she began to use her draconic powers to stroke the pleasure centers of his brain. "Because you are and always will be my best friend, Alexi, and because I need to protect this place from the same thing I went through when I was younger."

"So selfless," he purred, "it's what turns me on about you."

"Then why is it that you've been waiting so long, Alexi?"

* * *

><p><em>Shiki lay in a pool of his own blood, coughing up yet more of the crimson onto his once-pristine white Night Class uniform. His ice-blue eyes, normally so full of life, were full of haze when they finally focused on her, and he reached out a pleading hand trembling with weakness as he grew steadily closer to death. "Why did you do it?" he rasped, losing the strength needed to prop himself up and falling heavily to the tile floor beneath him. His last breath was a repetition of that same question, "Why?" He had loved her; why had she betrayed him like this?<em>

* * *

><p>Takuma frowned, leaning back against the terrace railing as he ran his hand through his hair. Since the reports of the poisoned blood tablets had come out, there'd been a shortage, though Yagari-sensei had been kind enough to offer to have his student inspect all the tablets already on campus. Fleur hadn't hung around for long, going about the Moon Dorm as if she was expecting herself to turn into a vampire by simply breathing the same air as they did, somehow timing her visit so that it was conducted while he was unconscious and he'd only gotten to see her at the door, where she'd left before he could do anything more than offer his thanks for curing him and for agreeing to become part of the Disciplinary committee. He sighed, fingering the small vial in his pocket that she'd left by his side with a note instructing him to drink its contents the next time he wanted blood. Explaining to the Council exactly <em>why<em> a prominent American hunter _should_ be on campus with the absolute _last_ remnant of the Kuran line was going to be a pain in the ass, but for some reason, he couldn't quite let Fleur go, even if it meant compromising his attempt to restore his coven's health and sanity by offering himself to Milano Kuran.

* * *

><p>"Alexi?" she asked quietly, lying back against his chest as he traced burning patterns over her arm, the only thing covering their naked bodies being the single lavender silk sheet pulled up over her breasts, "why did you come here for real?"<p>

"I came here for you, Fleur," he stated, his finger not pausing in its play.

Her hand closed around his wrist, gaining his attention. "Bullshit. You wouldn't come like a dog to a place filled with some many vampires and hunters, not when both usually end up being dragon slayers without realizing it. No, there's a reason why you're here, Alexi, and it certainly isn't me."

He sighed, his chest dipping underneath her as he shifted, a nipple brushing against her upper back. "I heard there was another dragon nearby, and while that's not exactly news, I figured it wouldn't be too bad basing my operations here. That you too were here was just a convenient bonus for me."

"I figured as much," she stated, pulling away and getting out of bed. Catching the glare those lovely teal eyes shot her as she straightened from picking her midnight blue skirt and the pair of lacy panties she'd happened to be wearing before this had started from the ground, she added, "Don't look so put out, Alexander, I have work to do here."

"Like what?" he asked lazily, seemingly unconcerned as he played with the silver around his wrist.

"I am a member of the Disciplinary Committee. As such, it is my job to make sure the Night Class behave themselves while they make their way to class and then don't eat the teachers or something. The damn leeches are too sleepy during the day to try anything, so _that's_ why I so considerately let you fuck me into the mattress." She pulled on first the light blue button-up blouse, then the midnight blue jacket that she had taken to wearing, straightening the patch on her arm identifying her as a prefect as she strode towards the door. "Good night, Alexi," she said, pausing at the door before she swept away.

Once she was gone, he let out a wolfish smile, a predatory glint appearing in his teal eyes as he pulled his long copper locks back up into a ponytail. "Oh no, Fleur," he purred, pulling his clothes back on, "it is good morning." _I'm not going to give Fleur up without a fight, not when she is _mine_._

* * *

><p>Milano woke up rather calmly, though a twisted dream tickled her memory. She thought hard, but count only remember the word "<em>why<em>".

"Kuran-sama," Shiki called from outside her door, "we have a new student, you probably want to meet him?"

"One moment please," she called, any remnants of the dream fading. Milano tied a white lace coverup over her modest, baby-pink night gown, pulled open her door and was face to face with _the_ Alexander Nikolai. "Nikolai…" She breathed, now very much awake.

"How do you know my name?" he questioned, giving Milano a suspicious side glance.

"Am I not supposed to know your name?" she asked hurriedly, coming up with a better excuse, "I know the names of all my students, and of course I would read your file before letting you live in my dorm."

"Of course Kuran-sama, I apologize for my insolence." He bowed, Milano beginning to like his respectful demeanor.

"I find your etiquette refreshing Nikolai." Milano smiled. "Please join me for tea in thirty minutes." She backed into her room and shut the door softly, but as soon at the door clicked, she lost control of her mind, her subconscious playing out the thousands of ways Nikolai, that damned dragon, could ruin everything she'd ever killed for. She lost sight of reality, her heartbeat became a weight in her chest, a sound like nails on a chalkboard—

* * *

><p>"Takuma-sama?" Hanabusa asked, quietly, obviously in one of his fleeting moments of clarity, "you seem to be in a good mood today; is there a particular reason why?"<p>

"Not really. I mean, there's more than enough stress to make me want to tear my hair out, but for once, I'm actually feeling decent!"

The younger blond cocked his head, hair falling into glassy blue eyes clouded with the numerous medications he was on to keep him from doing something he would later regret (the time Akatsuki found him lying in a pool of his own blood with slit wrists was not a particularly fun time for anyone), though there was a spark of something in his eyes. "You haven't taken from Senri-sama since you got back, have you?"

"No, why?"

"You're more… open than usual. Since you haven't taken from Senri-sama, then there _has_ to be something else involved. Maybe the vervain?"

"Maybe," he allowed, though his hand fisted around the vial hidden in his jacket pocket. _Fleur's potion! But how? It's not as if she put any powerful magic in there that's stronger than the blood of a child of a pureblood vampire…_

* * *

><p>As suddenly as Milano's episode began, she was released, finding herself sitting across Nikolai, earl grey tea in her steady hands, wearing an uncharacteristically yellow sundress.<p>

"And that's how I became supreme dictator of the third universe!" Nikolai concluded, the laughter in his eyes turning to concern, "Kuran sama, are you alright?"

"Kuran-sama?" Nikolai asked again, more insistently, but Milano held up a blistered and fleshy hand, burned from spilling her tea in frustration at her insanity, shushing him.

"I apologize for ending our meeting so abruptly," Milano told him in a multitude of tones, starting towards Shiki's room.

Shiki opened his door when he heard a knock; expecting it to be Takuma, he didn't bother putting on a shirt. "Hey Takuma-" he began, cutting himself off when he saw it was Milano, her left forearm and hand a sickly shade of red. "Your arm!" he exclaimed, opening the door for her, "Wait in here, I'll get you some gauze." Milano moved from the doorway to his bed and sat, hearing Shiki rummaging in the bathroom, regretting what she was about to do to him.

Shiki hurried over to her, a roll of gauze in his hands, "Milano!" he scolded, "What are you doing to your arm?" Without thinking, she had been digging her nails into the tender, welted skin, layers of burnt flesh shriveling and curling back, revealing an inlay of capillaries, barley pulsating with her slow heartbeat. She looked down at her hands, both finely laced with blood and pus, her nails thickly caked with miscellaneous chunks of her arm. "Milano!" Shiki scolded again, tightly wrapping the gauze around her arm, trying his best to fold the puzzle-piece flaps of dead skin back into the correct position. "How did you do this?" He commanded, knotting the end of the gauze over her bony palm.

"Spilled tea," she replied distractedly, watching the arteries in his neck.

"Spilled tea?" he asked bewildered, "That was a third degree burn on a vampire… from spilled tea?"

"My body is weakened, I'm not as strong as I normally am, not at strong as I am with Kuran blood… You have Kuran blood." For a moment, Shiki didn't reply, not wanting to sound too eager to have Milano's lips at his throat. Under any other circumstances, he would have readily offered himself to her, but Takuma's advice still rang in his mind, never mind that he didn't want to sound as if he was desperate for the endorphins released from a vampire's bite, something he'd felt many times before at the fangs of the other noble. The endorphins brought such a heady rush, turning pain into pleasure for the victim and bringing them to a near-orgasmic state, and were responcible for not just the blood bonds formed between vampires, but also many of the sexual encounters between these creatures of pleasure.

He averted his eyes in faux bashfulness, even though his heart thrilled to hear such tantalizing yet hinting suggestions of what he wanted so very much. "My blood is always welcome to you, Milano-sama," he murmured softly, his fingers playing with the edge of the bed as his eyes focused on anything but her, afraid of exposing his ice-blue orbs in case they betrayed him to her. He dropped down on the bed with Milano and pulled her on his lap, one sweating hand at her waist, the other pressing on her lower back to move their bodies close together, the fabric of her dress riding up slightly as she shifted slightly so as to make herself more comfortable within his embrace.

"Senri," she whispered tenderly, almost unable to hold in a laugh at how cute he was being, how tender and caring he was acting, as if this was something much more than the simple blood exchange it was. She leaned forward, her breath huffing over his collarbone and making him shiver with want, "Thank you."

Shiki groaned and pressed Milano closer when she drew away slightly as if doubting her decision, fearing the repercussions of his action, but the tightening of his arms around her slender body went unpunished. Her rosy tongue darted from her mouth to lick along his neck, numbing it with the enzymes in the saliva, her immature fangs extending slightly, having been famished for nearly a hundred years and now so close to nourishment. Pecking his collarbone in a wordless apology before she even began, Milano bit with unnecessary force, her inexperience making her a much messier eater than either of them would have expected. His blood rushed in her mouth like a growing symphony, the wonderful taste of forbidden Kuran magic soothing the frazzled edges of her consciousness, even as her regretful tears mixed with the sinfully delectable liquid she had denied herself for so long. Shiki fell backwards onto the bed, Milano with her legs wrapping around his waist to try to keep him, her prey, from escaping, even as one of his hands settled on her thigh just below where her dress had risen up, not wanting her to leave. Sensing something that was lost to her in her bloodlust, he quickly flipped their position, her fangs slipping from his neck even as her legs fell from his waist, his arms on either side of her chest to support his weight, almost as if he were afraid that she would break under the stress he might inadvertently provide if he didn't hold himself above her.

"Get out Alexander-sama," Shiki growled, using his body to try to hide Milano from the camera's continuing flash.

"Milano, you're so photogenic!" he laughed, "especially when your dress was hiked up…"

"Shut up!" Shiki yelled, throwing himself off Milano and at the obnoxious dragon, only to be rather painfully pushed back by a bunch of vines that shot out of his sleeves, nicking the noble vampire and causing him to barely avoid landing on Milano, who was still lying on the bed trying to quickly recover her dignity.

"Stop, Shiki," Milano commanded, rising from the bed, "Let's see how strong I am." In a practiced movement, she waved her hand at Nikolai, thick plates of ice creeping up his legs and the vines that were retreating back into the sleeves of his white uniform jacket.

"What the hell?" Nikolai blurted in that classic American charm as he physically struggled against the ice holding him, Milano placing her hands on his chest, ice freezing them together. Her hasty attempt at entering his mind was futile; Nikolai barley had to try to push her out, and she was thrown backwards, Shiki's firm arms catching her before she could hurt herself. "You bitch!" Nikolai accused, breaking the ice around him with heat generated by dancing blue sparks of electricity, "Watch your back, these pictures might find their way into some noble's hand. After all, I'm sure my old friend Asato Ichijo would pay a fine fortune for such… interesting photos of a pureblood vampire." He stormed out, no doubt to find that Fleur Yagari girl, judging by the way her scent clung to him even over the strong perfume of his own scent of magic.

* * *

><p>"Milano-sama, are you okay?" Shiki asked her, looking down at the pureblood wrapped in his arms around her as soon as Nikolai was a safe distance out of the room. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"<p>

"Shiki?" Milano said, wriggling out of his embrace and turning to look him over critically. "Oh," she stated, "There's blood all over your chest."

His lips twitched up in a small smile. "It's fine," he stated, even as she strode closer and began licking the blood off his shoulder and neck.

"No, it's not," she pouted. "It won't do for anyone to smell your blood all over this room in addition to my scent. They might read something into it that isn't there." She pulled away, "Shiki?'

"Yes Milano?"

_I'm strong_, she thought to herself, hesitant to admit weakness even if it was only to herself, _but not quite strong enough_. "Shiki," her voice was softer, even though it held no place for fear or regret, "how would you like to meet your father?"

* * *

><p>"Night Class, stop loitering!" Fleur yelled, striding over to the individual who had paused mid-stride on the doorstep, his back to her. "You're holding up the rest of the students!"<p>

She gasped when the boy turned, revealing unmistakable teal eyes and hair that was certainly gleaming copper now that it had been put into the proper light. "I'm sorry, Fleur-sempai," he said, brushing nonexistent dirt from his pristine white Night Class uniform. "I'll try to be more considerate in the future."

"Do you see the two newcomers?" one of the Day Class girls whispered, Sayori if Fleur wasn't mistaken. "I mean, Alexander-sempai was hot enough on his own, and Fleur-sempai certainly exotic enough to match, but damn if the two of them together isn't breath-taking. They look like they could have been made for each other!"

"Do you hear that, Fleur-sempai? _She_ thinks we'd be good for each other."

Her lavender eyes narrowed. "Get to class, Nikolai-sempai. I'm not afraid to kick your ass in front of all these witnesses."

He chuckled dryly. "You're scary," he called over his shoulder as he stepped through the door, allowing the remainder of the Night Class to pass through into the main building, "Miss Disciplinary Committee."

* * *

><p>Milano: Epic win!<p>

Holic: Agreed! *high fives Milano*

Shiki: *shakes head* Please review, it's the only thing that keeps these two mildly sane...


End file.
